Town Square

Bay Bridge opens early after much bickering, long delays

Original post made
on Sep 3, 2013

The Bay Bridge, complete with a newly-constructed eastern span, opened hours earlier than scheduled Monday night, transit officials said. The bridge was scheduled to be reopened by 5 a.m. Tuesday but the work was finished faster than anticipated.

This is so stupid! We spent billions to retrofit a bridge that was poorly designed and haphazardly built over a period of 15 years... Wow! This is government at work!

Well, at least with the bridge projected to reach capacity by 2030, we may have a few years to enjoy before it costs us more money, closures, and headaches to rebuild.

Let's hope next time there are fewer deaths due to faulty engineering on a curve that's now 35mph to cross. Or for a faulty bolt installed that needs to be replaced... But this bridge should be much safer now... absolutely... and if not? well, it'll be upgraded later so it's good enough. Brought to you by your lazy government folks, funded by your hardworking taxpayers.

Want some cheese to go with that whine, "Realist"? I understand that some people like to complain, and see the negative in every event. Personally, I'm looking forward to using a well-designed bridge that will speed traffic flow in that central location. Could the bridge have been built faster and cheaper? Well, yes, but...

Building large projects takes time and money these days. Options need to be considered, competing values need to be weighed and decided. Differing opinions need to be aired and assessed before being rejected. That's called "process."

No workers died in the construction of the new bridge, compared to dozens when the original was built. What's a life worth? (Before you answer that, make that - what's YOUR life worth?) Being safe takes time.

Every large project has flaws. Boeing 787's have battery fires. Cruise ships catch fire; jetliners crash. Remember the gas tanks on Pintos? Ford Exploders? The Edsel? The Yugo? All of that is private enterprise at work. So before you rant on about "lazy government" why don't you build a bridge, and see how easy it is?

P.S. Do you actually "work" or is that whine about "hardworking taxpayers just an ideological knee-jerk?

Posted by Citizen Paine
a resident of Danville
on Sep 3, 2013 at 11:05 am

"As a result of these factors, the cost of the BART system escalated from the original 1962 estimate of $923 million to an actual cost of approximately $1.6 billion in 1974, when the system was completed. This represented a cost escalation for the entire project of 50 percent." Web Link

The thing that bugs me about this "grand hoopla opening" is all the media attention claiming that the thing is done/finished/completed. All untrue!!
Yes, traffic is sitting on it, but it is far from complete.
I sure hope our tax dollars are not given away in a "bonus" graft payoff to the contractors just for last-second scrambling to get traffic on the span.

If this were your kitchen remodel, this would be equivalent to having the sink working so you no longer need to wash your dishes in the bathtub, and you can walk through and use the doors, but instead of the fridge you just have a cooler, and instead of your stove all connected you have to use a hibachi. Useable, yes, but far from "completed."